Opinions on parting out good, complete machines

[fmblizz]

How do our formum members feel about sellers dismantling and parting out complete machines.

An Ebay seller username "neelam" has made it a habit of continuously taking apart good complete machines and putting them on Ebay.

Every time I see this it sticks in my crawl..

Quite obvious he is not a collector and only in it for the money...

fmblizz

[alang]

I noticed that seller as well. Sad story about an incomplete machine in one listing, then the horn, back bracket and tonearm in separate listings. At least he usually leaves bigger sections together. I've seen other sellers who dismantle down to the screws and escutcheons and sell everything in individual listings. I understand that there are basket cases where this might make sense and not everyone is up to rebuilding a trashed machine. But ripping apart good nice machines is a shame.
Andreas

[FloridaClay]

While I understand the financial incentive, it is to me a very sad thing to see. But then there is really nothing to do about it. Someone can pretty much do what they want with a machine that they own. And I try to look on the bright side. Several people who really care about their machines can have the parts to bring them back to life.

Clay

[phonojim]

It stinks, period. "Nuff said.

Jim

[flashpanblue]

Hello,
I think that parting out complete machines in fine condition just because you can't sell them for the too high a reserve that you place on them is wrong. For over a hundered years these machine have survived in tact and have been passed from collector to collector. Someone has taken care ( stewardship) of these machines ensuring that they survive in good condition for the next generation of collectors. If a machine is in rough shape and missing a lot of parts then perhaps it is O.K. to part it out to complete a few other machines.
Pete

[Ripduf1]

I have recently parted out a couple of machines that were rough. Albeit with enough time and effort and money I guess you could always argue they could have been saved. But since I don’t have time or effort, I decided to part them out. I quite comfortable believing that each component purchased from me completed or brought a machine nearer to completion. By counting the various buyers of the components that could be north of 10 machines in my own little sample of two “de-parted” machines.

Personally, I also strive to support our hobby by pricing things fairly and initially offering them here on the forum in order to support fellow collectors’ rehabilitation of their machines. If it doesn’t sell on the forum, I bump up the price to pay the fees and list it on Ebay.

Regarding neelam, I have bought from neelam and I was glad. I needed an original crank for my Victor C and there it was. I do however scratch my head at the prices listed on neelams common stuff, and if somebody out there is willing to pay that much, well that’s just business.

Everyone who buys a part brings another machine closer to completion.

[Valecnik]

I'm with Pete and PhonoJim and others of a similar view.

Some of those that he parts out are in amazingly good condition, having survived unmolested for more than a hundred years. You loose a certain amount of historical reference every time you do that, i.e. whether a Victor R with a certain cereal no. is really correct with a wooden tone arm, metal tone arm, zinc belled horn, brass belled horn etcetera. To me an unmolested original machine is worth more than the sum of it's parts.

[VintageTechnologies]

Parting out a basket case is one thing, but parting out a working machine is quite another. I'll make a rather drastic comparison by likening it to organ donations: if Grandma is dead, donating her organs would be a charitable cause; if the old girl is still alive, well, not so much!

[Phonofreak]

I too, hate to see perfectly good machines parted out. Like the other posters said, these machines have been together for over 100 years. To part out a perfectly good machine because it doesn't sell, is just plain greed.
Harvey Kravitz

[epigramophone]

The only machines I have ever dismantled for parts were so structurally unsound that only the woodworm holding hands prevented their total collapse!

I have also bought incomplete machines which were worthy of restoration, and waited patiently for months to acquire the necessary parts.

As a classic car owner, I am accustomed to searching for spares to keep them on the road. Recycling is all part of the hobby.